Golf betting tips: Preview and tips for the 2022 RBC Canadian Open

The RBC Canadian Open was first played in 1904 by the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA). It is the third oldest continuously running tournament on the PGA Tour after the British Open Championship and the US Open.

The Canadian Open hasn’t been played since 2019 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. That year, it was played at Hamilton Golf & Country Club with Rory McIlroy emerging victorious, seven strokes clear of his nearest rivals.

St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto, Ontario, hosts this year’s tournament having last hosted the event in 2010.

Course Overview

St Georges Golf & Country Club was established in 1909 and was built in co-ordination with the construction of the Royal York Hotel. Canadian golf course architect, Stanley Thompson, designed and led the construction of the golf course.

In 1946 the name of the country club was changed from The Royal York Golf Club to St. George’s Golf and Country Club. The layout will play as a Par 70 that can stretch to 7,014 yards from the back tees.

St. George’s has previously hosted five Canadian Opens;

• 1933 – won by Joe Kirkwood, Sr.
• 1949 – won by Dutch Harrison
• 1960 – won by Art Wall Jr.
• 1968 – won by Bob Charles
• 2010 – won by Carl Pettersson

St Georges Golf & Country Club Scorecard

	Shortest	Longest	Average
Par 3’s	146	215	195
Par 4’s	370	486	441
Par 5’s	528	560	542

The course is a classic design with tree-lined fairways, elevation changes and smaller than average greens. The challenge this week looks to rest with the Par 3’s.

The layout has five Par 3’s with four playing at just over 200+ yards. The course has three Par 5’s which are modest in length by Tour standards. The Par 4’s range in length from 370 – 486 yards.

The layout and design of St George’s features superb routing with holes that keep the layout challenging despite its lack of length. This week looks like accuracy will trump distance, a fact highlighted by the players who finished in the Top 20 when last played at St Georges.

2010 Canadian Open | Top 20 Finishers

POS	PLAYER	R1	R2	R3	R4	SCORE	TOT
1	Carl Pettersson	71	68	60	67	-14	266
2	Dean Wilson	65	65	65	72	-13	267
3	Luke Donald	69	66	67	66	-12	268
T4	Greg Chalmers	66	69	70	65	-10	270
T4	Tim Clark	66	64	69	71	-10	270
T4	Bob Estes	66	67	66	71	-10	270
T4	Charley Hoffman	65	71	69	65	-10	270
T4	Matt Kuchar	70	67	66	67	-10	270
T4	Bryce Molder	70	67	63	70	-10	270
T4	Jeff Quinney	71	66	64	69	-10	270
T4	Charlie Wi	69	68	67	66	-10	270
T4	Michael Letzig	66	70	69	65	-10	270
T13	Trevor Immelman	67	68	65	71	-9	271
T13	Kevin Na	67	67	68	69	-9	271
T13	Steve Wheatcroft	65	66	73	67	-9	271
T13	Brendon de Jonge	69	67	66	69	-9	271
T17	David Duval	68	67	72	65	-8	272
T17	Chris Riley	69	69	65	69	-8	272
T17	Kevin Sutherland	73	62	65	72	-8	272
T17	Kirk Triplett	71	67	67	67	-8	272
T17	Jimmy Walker	65	73	68	66	-8	272
T17	Hunter Mahan	65	67	70	70	-8	272
T17	Matt Bettencourt	70	65	68	69	-8	272

The RBC Canadian Open is a hard one to assess due to course rotation and it’s slot before the US Open. With unfamiliar greens serving as targets, Strokes Gained Tee-To-Green will yet again be a key consideration. Those in tune with distance and accuracy who sink their fair share of putts should thrive.

This is one of those weeks to approach with caution.

RBC Canadian Open Tips

Shane Lowry 18/1 (E/W) – the Irishman has good history at the RBC Canadian Open with a T12 in 2018 when played at Gen Abbey and a T2 in 2019 at Hamilton Golf Club. Enjoying a very solid season with three Top 10’s among seven Top 25’s from twelve starts. Statistically balanced, the 35-year old features inside the Top 10 in this week’s Stats Analysis. Currently 11^th on Tour for Strokes Gained Approach and 6^th for Scoring Average. Among the elite in the field, he ticks a lot of boxes to make some noise around St Georges.

Tony Finau 25/1 (E/W) – a regular at the RBC Canadian Open, his best finish in the recent past is a T5 in 2017 when played at Glen Abbey. Landed his first Top 10 of the season at the recent Mexico Open, he followed with a battling T30 in the PGA Championship and a T4 in his last outing at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Despite weak Scrambling stats, the Utah native still places inside the Top 20 in this week’s Stats Analysis, While most players at the top end of the market will have an eye on next week’s US Open, he is probably hungrier than most for a return to the winner’s circle – might just be enough to give him an edge. Ticks a lot of boxes.